Asia; A Powerhouse In The Mobile Esports Scene

The popularity of mobile gaming has grown nothing short of meteoric these past few years. As a result, mobile esports have experienced an exponential growth in popularity and in nowhere else is it as popular as it is in Asia. According to a study done by Google in partnership with Niko Partners, Asia has been a long-time leader in key markets which include China, South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia with 1.5 billion gamers.

Explaining the popularity of mobile esports in Asia

The reasons why mobile esports is so popular in Asia is the fact that we have an established audience sports players and fans, a strong infrastructure of internet cafes, and a prominent mobile-first consumer base in key markets. In 2019 alone, the combined number of mobile gamers in China and Southeast Asia reached around 820 million, generating a staggering USD 28 billion in annual mobile gaming revenue. Despite the better graphical powers of traditional PC and console, new developments in smartphone hardware, cloud gaming and 5G networks have brought mobile gaming up to speed.

As mentioned before, the strong presence of internet cafes have been important in key markets with many being used to host mobile esports tournaments and events. As a result, this has inspired new developments and intensifies market competition in the mobile esports scene. This has also improved the quality of mobile esports events and competitions in South East Asia  with prize pool value of esports competitions growing 244% between 2018 and 2019. Furthermore, 68% of global mobile esports revenue in 2019 comes from Asia alone. 

Another reason why mobile esports is so popular in Asia is due to the increased availability of live streaming platforms which has helped esports fans and players connect around the globe. Additionally, the rise of homegrown streaming services have also helped fuel the local gaming fever.

Mobile esports markets to watch in Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia has generated more than USD1.9 billion in mobile esports revenue in the year 2019, with Vietnam leading the pack with a 5-year compounded annual growth of 28%.

China

China currently boasts the world’s largest PC and mobile esports market and has the most developed infrastructure for esports tournaments than anywhere in the world. Last year, China generated over USD7 billion in mobile esports revenue with +28% YOY (Year-Over-Year).

South Korea

To add to South Korea’s well established PC esports scene, Chinese esports company Fighting Esports Group and Korean esports company OnGameNet brought Honor of Kings (internationally known as Arena of Valor) to South Korea in 2018. This increased the popularity of mobile gaming creating the Korean King Pro League.

Japan

In Japan, the largest sponsors of esports are still console game publishers however the huge number of local mobile gamers (38 million in 2019) is a strong indicator of the potential growth of mobile esports.

India

The mobile esports scene in India is expected to grow in tandem with Southeast Asia. This is due to the fact that neither region are particularly strong when it comes to PC and console gaming. Moreover, both regions are similar in terms of its per capita GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and the rate of internet penetration.

COVID-19’s has had a huge impact on mobile esports in Asia

The recent pandemic has increased the number of people playing and streaming games despite it temporarily limiting the number of esports tournament and events. This is due to the fact that quarantine movements in many Asian countries caused more people to stay at home and spending their time playing games. As a result, mobile gaming has become even more crucial in keeping fans connected during social distancing.

Our very own Mamak Conquest tournament

As quarantine movements begin to loosen in many countries, the esports scene will grow even further as fans across Asia will be able to access venues that has fueled their esports fandom for years.

Pokdepinion: I am at awe with the current esports scene. You’d be hard pressed to find a more passionate and hardcore fanbase than the esports fanbase.